Energy labelling

The aim of energy labelling is to provide consumers with information that enables them to choose energy efficient products. An energy label is attached to products for which product-group specific energy labelling regulations have been adopted in the EU.

The energy label shows a product’s energy consumption during use on a scale from A to G. In some cases, additional classes A+, A++ and A+++ are used to denote efficiency that exceeds the top A class. The energy label is multilingual and looks the same in all EU countries. In addition to energy-related and price information, advertisements for products covered by the labelling scheme must also include a reference to the product’s energy efficiency class.

Requirements set by product-group specific regulations

The energy labelling framework is laid down at EU level by the Energy Labelling Regulation and at national level by the Ecodesign Act. The energy labelling requirements included in these instruments only apply to product groups for which binding, product-group specific energy labelling regulations have been adopted in the EU. The requirements set for individual product groups are directly applicable in all EU countries.

Specific requirements have been set for numerous product groups from refrigerators to televisions. More information on the regulated product groups is available on the ekosuunnittelu.info website (in Finnish).

When the Energy Labelling Directive was recast in 2010, its scope was extended from energy-using products to also include products that are indirectly related to the use of energy (such as windows). Thus, in the future, energy labelling requirements can be set for a wider range of products.